The Daily Love

This really spoke to me this morning and I wanted to share it with you, my dedicated readers. As much as I love clothes, shoes, purses, designer goods, fashion, all that "stuff," it still doesn't make up for the love that I get from my family, my friends and most importantly, the love I give myself.

     "It has been said a million times, "seek and you shall find; ask and you shall receive".

     I've found that this is true and it can also be misleading. If you ask for what you "think" you want, you may or may not get it. Contrary to what you may have heard out there, the Uni-verse is not your made-to-order wish- fulfillment Genie.

       The system is designed to give you what you NEED so you can LEARN and grow Spiritually; it is not designed to give you your every last consumer desire.

       Sometimes not getting what we want is the greatest gift. Sometimes, instead of getting more money and more things, what we really need is to go without them - not as a punishment, but as a way to speed up our awakening.

        "Stuff" can be a temporary filler for a hole within. When the "stuff" is gone, the hole is exposed and it is then up to you to go about filling that hole with wisdom, self-love, self-approval and forgiveness. 

      I realized recently that the Uni-verse doesn't always give me what I want. But it ALWAYS gives me what I need. This is not to say that I will only have "just enough" to get by. What I really need is to be HAPPY. So I see the experiences, people and things the Uni-verse brings my way as all being a part of contributing to my happiness.

       If I need to learn forgiveness, it brings me someone to forgive. If I need to learn how to let go and trust, it pulls the rug out from under me and gives me the opportunity to trust with no back up plan. If I need to learn how to love, it will pull people away from me so I can learn how to love myself.  

        Once all these lessons have been learned (many times through pain), happiness begins to show up.

        Ask for what you need, not for what you want. Ask for love, for happiness, for faith, patience, trust and sustenance. The Universe is much smarter and wiser than you are, so let it fill in the details.

        See everything that happens after you ask as a blessing and a lesson on the way to getting the things that you want. Let go of outcome and see yourself as always being in a process. Know that what you NEED isn't just getting your basic needs met; what you NEED is to THRIVE and BE HAPPY! Ask for this, and then get out of your own way!"

                                                 -Mastin Kipp
                                                                       founder of the Daily Love

Closet Diaries + New shoes!

                 
 My Michael Kors twin! Jaimie and I in MK Sequin shorts paired with a white double layered tank, and a sexy blazer. The look is complete with a pair of black opaque tights and our sexy patent leather Lesly pumps. Work is always so glamorous at Michael Kors.


Just got these: Michael Kors Tatum bootie...so high, so sexy, and ohh so chic.



My new ZIGIgirl flats with metal toes. I love these-Obessessed! Real leather and so comfy (after I broke them in, of course). I die for these.

Closet Diaries

MICHAEL Michael Kors Black studded dress

Michael Kors dress, Michael Kors Rosegold-limited edition- watch, and Martin + Osa Mary-Jane pumps.

Good Evening. Today I was feeling festive enough to wear something that reminded me of the Holidays. The perfect Holiday dress and of course, it's MICHAEL by Michael Kors. Fabulous isn't it!? I thought I would wear it outside of work for a change. I put it on in the morning while jamming out to Christmas music on 93.3; great way to quench my Christmas thirst and an even better way to spend my morning.

Closet Diaries

Lauren Conrad dress. Simply Vera by Vera Wang belt. Micheal Kors patent leather peep-toe pumps.

I love this outfit because I feel free and feminine and sexy when I wear it. This Lauren Conrad dress is beautiful and if it wasn't for the bad picture quality you would see how wonderful the draping is and how the subtle ruffles add character to the dress. The look isn't complete without the perfect pair of shoes-as every woman out there should agree with me on-and I think these fabulous Michael Kors peep-toe pumps make the cut. They are high and sexy and just what was needed to complete the outfit.

Laugher is the best medicine

Greatest birthday card I've ever seen

The Ritz and Fabulous

Laura Fantacci

The stylish and talented Laura Fantacci, contributing fashion editor at Red Magazine, the author of the style diary/blog Wearing It Today, and the woman whose career I'm pursuing and following.


She has impeccable style and I must say I enjoy reading and keeping up with her blog (Wearing It Today) where she shares her inspirations and shows pieces from her killer wardrobe thrown together to create looks that complete her captivating style. She is fabulous, talented, successful, glamorous and has a witty little charm to her that I absolutely adore. Each morning I wake up and find myself wondering what she is wearing for the day..it's a bit of a problem I must admit.

Today's outfit?   Love. Love. Love.

Vintage black fur coat with distressed denim and sexy black pumps.

Very Carrie Bradshaw, post wedding breakup after dyeing her hair dark brown.

Favorite Coats: Day 3 The Statement Wower

Elizabeth and James Spring 2011 Lookbook

photo credit: Fashionista Blog

The soft neutral tones, loose knits and flowy blouses mixed with structured jackets and boyfriend trousers create a minimalistic approach to femininity that is beautifully executed. It caught my attention and kept me intrigued. I wanted to see more looks! With pops of color, floral accents, stripes, and touches of sparkle here and there the look comes together perfectly. Chic, sophisticated and savvy while still keeping in tune with the contemporary style of Elizabeth and James. I'm in love with these looks!

Love Urban's Kimchi Blue dress as much as I do? You can find it on their website

Holiday Visuals

This quarter I'm in a Visual Technique class where we learn all the ins and outs of being a visual merchandiser. Fortunately everything we had to use for this project I was familiar with from my job as accessories specialist at Forever 21. It was easy and a lot of fun! Our class was divided into groups and each group got a corner of the fourth floor of our school. Our goal was to decorate these corners as a visual merchandiser would do at a store, or boutique, at the mall-in real life. I was excited especially when my teacher told us we would be basing our theme around Holidays. I immediately jumped the gun and took Christmas/Holiday before anyone else because I love Christmas!The twist was that we cant make it look cheesy. No Christmas trees or  red and green banners that say "MERRY CHRISTMAS" with lights everywhere. None of that. We had to stay away from anything that screams Christmas while still making it feel like Christmas. Tricky, I know, but it will be fun. I love using my creativity.

My group and I decided we wanted to do a sophisticated, classic, twist to Christmas and use the theme "Christmas in Paris." Perfect. It's time to start shopping and start getting ideas for our display. We headed to: Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Hancock Fabrics, Target, WalMart, Woodfield mall, basically anywhere where we could get ideas and ideally buy some stuff! 

Beautiful!

Next up was the outfit for our mannequin. Since the theme is wrapped around the idea of Holiday, or Christmas, in Paris I went to H&M to try on different outfits and explore my options. I found a couple good outfits that were a possible suit for our display but only one dress came out on top:

I thought it was very Carrie Bradshaw in Paris but, it wasn't Holiday enough.

I loved this one-the picture doesn't do it any justice (bad phone quality picture)-but it felt more party holiday instead of sophisticated Parisian Holiday cocktail dress. If it were more structured and fitted it would have been perfect.

Now this is more like it. I love the pattern and the neutral colors on the silk, sheen, fabric. The belt defines the waist but it's too casual for a Holiday in Paris.

Finally found the perfect dress, from my roommates closet (thank you Krystal!), and tied a pearl necklace around the waist give it a little pizazz and some pearls around the neck for a more sophisticated, Holiday look. Mission accomplished.

Having a little fun never hurt anybody. We decided our mannequins name is Belle.

 

Figuring out the best place to hang our Paris picture. I think we found it!

Sara is working hard cutting out the border of the picture.

Now it's time to hang the background. We decided to go with a suede, tan, fabric; very warm and classic. It reminds me of Christmas, and suede is a winter fabric so it was the most logical choice. I spent time sewing the top to make it more accessible to hanging without showing any hooks.

Hanging the fabric.

Makes such a big difference.

Now it's time to hang the picture that Sara cut and placed into a frame.

After the picture was hung, Belle goes into her place. Excellent.

Time to hang the ornaments!

Sara is right bedside me handing me double-sided tape. Working as a team.

Finished Product. Doesn't it make you want to cuddle up on the couch by the fireplace and drink Baileys and hot coco!?